Saturday, July 4, 2009

Back when I was in graduate school, on the last day of a seminar on Eastern European literature, the professor asked us what we thought characterized literature from that part of the world. We concluded that it was a sense of fatalism.

In fact, I think I was the one to first suggest that answer, for I recognized the fear and sense of futility. As an immigrant who came here at a young age with my parents from [1] Slovenia, then part of communist Yugoslavia, I knew firsthand the difference in attitudes that marks the American character. It provided a source of conflict between me and my parents, who, like many immigrants, doggedly clung to security and obscurity — while I read and dreamed of becoming a famous writer, and in the American way studied for a Ph.D. in spite of my age and early educational track.

But this was not uncommon. The parents of my Ukrainian friends carried a look of worried fear. The mother of one of my friends made it a policy to sign no “papers.” Her refusal to sign a form denied my friend a scholarship to become a dental hygienist — her dream. My Polish friend [2] Anthony Bukoski writes superb [3] short stories that capture the sense of a proud and brave people brutalized by totalitarian regimes and then made refugees. [4] Metod Milač, a Slovene, has written a riveting [5] account of his experiences of imprisonment by the Italian Fascists and German Nazis. A friend, whose late father had been a member of the [6] Slovenian Home Guard that had resisted the takeover by the communist Partisans, literally looked over his shoulder on the streets of Cleveland.

But those streets, once havens for [7] displaced persons, soon were destroyed by the utopian plans of collectivists and their agitators who urged the mobs to violence. The neighbors of my working-class neighborhood in Rochester, New York, complained from their front porches of increasing taxes, as they watched their property values deteriorate from the urban “renewal” and social decay of Johnson’s Great Society program. While a job at Kodak or a stint at the community college was the aspiration for the graduates of Benjamin Franklin High School in the mid-seventies, we believed that nonetheless it was possible for someone of talent to make it big. Like the [8] Partridge Family, they could take to the road, or at least enjoy owning a Camaro or Firebird — before the burdens of suburban family life took precedence.

We are seeing even those small marks of personal pride and independence — the freedom to rev up the engine on a Friday night — taken away. The muscle cars, under the diktat of the president and head of General Motors, are simply being eliminated and replaced by Yugo-style cars. The common retort to my lament is that such a boost to the male ego is silly in light of global warming and the greater good. What I find alarming, though, is that today’s generation submits to such authority.

And what about those from the upper-middle classes who had dreams of becoming doctors, executives, or entrepreneurs? As our president defies history and the Constitution by firing executives, citizens applaud.

Perhaps the most disturbing sight for me during the campaign — even more than Obama before the [9] mobs in Berlin — was the corn-fed Midwestern couple starring on one of Obama’s commercials. Those were the people that I grew up with — salt of the earth. But I winced as I heard them tell Obama about their personal problems with bills and health care while soft music played in the background creepily.

They wanted him to take care of them. True to form, while North Korea conducted [10] nuclear tests, Obama hailed his [11] credit card reform — as if we are incapable of reading the fine print or making a phone call on our own. While young [12] protesters longing for fair elections died in the streets of Tehran, Obama signed [13] a bill to protect us from cigarettes. Now Obama wants to tell us what medical procedures we should have, how much we should earn, and what kinds of cars we should drive.

What are the responses to complaints about such violations of our “unalienable right” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”? Frequent proclamations by the White House [14] press secretary, by the secretary of state, and by the [15] president himself of “we won.” And during his June 23 press conference, when presented with criticisms about his response to Iranian protests, Obama royally [16] proclaimed twice, “I’m president.” So much for “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Now it’s only the “people” who voted for Obama.

Perhaps what is most disturbing is the president’s unprecedented ridicule and dismissal of citizens — even for such things as their radio programs, by telling Republicans not to “[17] listen to” Rush Limbaugh. And apparently “open communication” from the White House is only for Democrats, for I received only two emails when I signed up for the list before I was dropped. In light of such developments, the Department of Homeland Security’s right-wing extremist [18] memo, with its unfounded warnings about those who disagree with the administration, portends ill for those who don’t march lockstep with Obama’s dictates.

Say what you want and ridicule me the way our president does, but this naturalized citizen is looking over her shoulder on this Independence Day.

Article printed from Pajamas Media:http://pajamasmedia.com

URL to article:http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/the-end-of-independence-day/

My beloved ones,God knows we didn't want all this! To be at war -- so real and yet so impossible to accept. Common sense cries: No, no!Yesterday I saw Bibi. Was it really only yesterday? An eternity seems to have gone by since then. But only yesterday I was laughing in his company. Only yesterday I was home for a few hours, only yesterday I embraced Tuti. Only yesterday!

Tuti my love,That's it. A battle has ended. We left the expanses of sand strewn with the bodies of the dead, filled with fire and smoke, and now we are once again in our own country. I am eaten up with worry for you. Perhaps in a few days, when it's all over and we're together again, perhaps then we'll smile… Tonight, and maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, we'll be shooting again, and again there'll be dead and wounded.~ Yoni

On June 27, 1976, four terrorists forced an Air France Airbus to land in Uganda, in the heart of distant Africa. They quickly demanded that Israel release 53 convicted terrorists. The hijackers freed the French crew and non­Jewish passengers, while retaining 105 Jewish and Israeli hostages. A 48­hour deadline was set before executions would begin.

Faced with little choice, the Israeli government announced that it would enter into negotiations. This bought the precious time needed to consolidate a seemingly impossible military option. A new ultimatum was issued for 13:00 on Sunday, July 4.

The only airplane capable of a rescue operation was the C­130 Hercules. On July 1, the mission's overall commander, Brig. General Dan Shomron (later to become the IDF Chief­of­Staff), presented his plan to the IDF Commander and Israel's Defense Minister. The next day they all witnessed a full­scale dress rehearsal. The incredible was deemed possible.

Shomron's plan was based on several advantages that the Israelis had over the terrorists. The Entebbe airport at which the hostages were being held was built by an Israeli construction firm, which was able to provide Shomron with blueprints. Moreover, the released, non-Jewish hostages were able to describe the terrorists, their arms, and their positioning. As a result, the IDF decided to send in an overwhelmingly powerful force: over 200 of the best soldiers the army had to offer participated in the raid, all of them heavily armed.

Finally, the element of surprise was probably the biggest edge that Israel held. According to Shomron: "You had more than 100 people sitting in a small room, surrounded by terrorists with their fingers on the trigger. They could fire in a fraction of a second. we had to fly seven hours, land safely, drive to the terminal area where the hostages were being held, get inside, and eliminate all the terrorists before any of them could fire." The fact that no one expected the Israelis to take such risks was precisely the reason that they took them.

The aircraft took off at 13:20 on July 3 and headed south. Only then was the plan revealed to the Israeli Cabinet, which decided to let the operation continue. The lead Hercules carried the rescue force, led by Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu. It also held two jeeps and the now famous black Mercedes, a perfect copy of dictator Idi Amin's personal car. Two additional Hercules carried reinforcements and troops assigned to carry out special missions, such as destroying the Migs parked nearby. A fourth Hercules was sent to evacuate the hostages.

The air package also included two Boeing 707's. One acted as a forward command post. The second, outfitted as an airborne hospital, landed in nearby Nairobi, Kenya. The Hercules was escorted by F4 Phantoms as far as possible-about one­third the distance.

Skirting thunderstorms over Lake Victoria, the Hercules transports neared the end of the 7­hour, 40­minute flight. A surprise awaited them: the runway lights were on! Despite this, they landed undetected at 23:01 (local time), only one minute past their planned arrival time.

The soldiers freed the hostages in a lightning attack, killing all eight terrorists in the process. Tragically, force commander Yoni Netanyahu was killed as he led the hostages toward the safety of the aircraft; additionally, two hostages were killed in the crossfire inside the airport. The other squads accomplished their missions in virtually the same time as during the "dry­run." By 23:59 the planes were on their way home. The operation, which was predicted to last one hour, in fact took only 58 minutes.

The mission struck a blow at international terrorism. "It resonated far and wide," Shomron later commented. "It showed that you could counter terrorism, and that it was worth cooperating to do so." As America celebrated its Bicentennial, the world was reminded that freedom is a value which must be fought for in every generation.

Declaration of Independence Here is the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.The original spelling and capitalization have been retained.

(Adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776)The Unanimous Declarationof the Thirteen United States of America

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.

He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing taxes on us without our consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses:

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

Our government and even most of our people have abandoned this document and pretty much everything it stood for. Happy 4th of July? I don't think so. But I'll go to the damn BBQ anyway and have a good time. However I will not be posting all sorts of patriotic happy 4th of July shit here or be saying GOD bless America all day.... can't do it.

God blesses the righteous, and removes his protection from the wicked. America has been anything but righteous and I know it. So the reality is GOD is going to judge America, and already is. So read this document. Read it again. And maybe one day we will recognize our America once more. Right now I am in exile in The Obamanable Seizer's Oymerika, and so are you. GOD forgive us for abandoning Him, and may the founding fathers and patriots who fought the war to create this country forgive us as well. I wonder if our children will.~ BabbaZee, The Outraged Spleen of Zion, An exile in Oymerika

Hamas did not release news about Zahar's visits "upon requests by the countries that were included in the trip." Zahar, who is also a member of the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament, paid the visit upon requests by those European countries.

President Shimon Peres on Wednesday invited Saudi King Abdullah to come to Jerusalem, or meet him in Riyadh, to initiate discussions that would enable the implementation of a comprehensive peace between Israel and all the Arab states.

Peres spoke at an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, addressing some 150 religious leaders from around the world, including a large delegation of imams, calling on King Abdullah to meet with him in Jerusalem, in Riyadh or in any other place “in order to fulfill his prayer for peace between all people, without differences of religion.”

He praised a 2002 Arab peace initiative, which offers Israel full normalization in return for a withdrawal from territory conquered in the 1967 Six Day War, a Palestinian state and an equitable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem. Peres quoted Jordanian King Abdullah II as calling the plan “a readiness for peace between the State of Israel and 57 Arab and Muslim states.”

The president also spoke about Islamist terrorism. “Thousands, if not millions of Muslims, have lost their lives at the hands of extremists that call the name of Allah,” Peres said. “In the Twin Towers of New-York, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists and atheists, all lost their lives as one.”

Meanwhile, Iranian delegates stormed out of the opening session of the interfaith conference as Peres began to deliver his address to the forum. The delegates returned to the conference hall after Peres finished speaking. One said the president was a repulsive Zionist figure whose “place was not here in a religious meeting.”

“[Peres] plunders land and occupies, and we are not willing to hear him,” an Iranian delegate added.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu condemned the decision by Israeli to further encroach on what he considers occupied territory in the West Bank. Ihsanoglu said the settlement activity was meant to fragment the Palestinian territories into "disconnected cantons," undermining the possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Bashar al Assad told Sky's Middle East correspondent Dominic Waghorn he wanted to meet the US President on Syrian soil to discuss peace in the region. He asked Sky News to relay the invitation to Mr Obama. When asked when the visit could take place, he said it was up to the Americans to decide.

Waiting for al-Qaida's GodotMAGESTERIAL, even! Dude is also worried about the toothless unhinged post American Christianst hordes just waiting behind every bush to kill him.

President Obama's magisterial vocal outreach to the Muslim world in Cairo on June 4 did not shake the extremist beliefs of the fundamentalists, an estimated 10 percent of 1.3 billion. That's 130 million scattered among 57 Muslim nations. "Amrika," in Arabic, and Israel, are dwedledee and dweddledum in the thousands of al-Qaida Web sites that provide the refuge of a virtual global caliphate for the millions of jobless Muslims in the rundown suburbs of Western Europe's major cities.

Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, meet near a tree. They converse on various topics and reveal that they are waiting there for a man named Godot. While they wait, two other men enter. Pozzo is on his way to the market to sell his slave, Lucky. He pauses for a while to converse with Vladimir and Estragon. Lucky entertains them by dancing and thinking, and Pozzo and Lucky leave.

After Pozzo and Lucky leave, a boy enters and tells Vladimir that he is a messenger from Godot. He tells Vladimir that Godot will not be coming tonight, but that he will surely come tomorrow. Vladimir asks him some questions about Godot and the boy departs. After his departure, Vladimir and Estragon decide to leave, but they do not move as the curtain falls.

The next night, Vladimir and Estragon again meet near the tree to wait for Godot. Lucky and Pozzo enter again, but this time Pozzo is blind and Lucky is dumb. Pozzo does not remember meeting the two men the night before. They leave and Vladimir and Estragon continue to wait.

Shortly after, the boy enters and once again tells Vladimir that Godot will not be coming. He insists that he did not speak to Vladimir yesterday. After he leaves, Estragon and Vladimir decide to leave, but again they do not move as the curtain falls, ending the play.

A former vice-president of the Canadian Arab Federation is not backing down after posting "F--- Canada Day" on his personal Facebook page.

Omar Shaban, a university student in his early twenties, resigned from the CAF's executive on Wednesday night after his comments, which also referred to Canada as a "genocidal state," provoked an online backlash. Rather than apologize for his remarks, however, he published an extensive blog post on Thursday defending them.

The International Police force, or Interpol, has denied a claim by Iran's police chief that it is seeking a doctor who witnessed the shooting death of 26-year-old "Neda."

Head of police Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said, "Arash Hejazi is wanted by Interpol and Iran's Intelligence Ministry" in the murder of Neda, who's shooting fueled what were daily opposition rallies in the capital city of Tehran, according to a Wednesday report by Iran's Press TV, a state-run, English language network.

The United Nations' Alliance of Civilizations recently revamped and relaunched the Global Expert Finder (GEF), a searchable database of commentators, analysts and academics who have expertise in many topics, including politics, law, education, women's rights, human rights, terrorism, globalization, religion, and art. IJNet recently interviewed the UN's Daanish Masood about GEF and how journalists can benefit from the service.

ElBaradei, backed by uranium producer Russia, has been trying to propel the plan forward but was blocked at a June IAEA board meeting by developing states, who fear it could limit their right to establishing their own atomic energy programmes.

After failing to agree on a new head earlier this year, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency selected Yukiya Amano of Japan to succeed current chief Mohamed ElBaradei of Egypt who steps down in November.

Russia is sinking into a swamp of bad loans. The scale of credit rot in the Russian banking system exposed by Fitch Ratings this week is truly staggering.

The report is yet another cold douche to those betting that the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) can pull us out of our mess. Lenders will need to raise $60bn (£37bn) in fresh capital if the “pessimistic scenario” unfolds.

In potentially ominous news, Gazprom has entered an agreement with Azeri national energy company SOCAR to purchase Azeri gas at a price of $350/thousand cubic meters. Initial volumes of 500 mcm for 2010 are modest, but Gazprom is allegedly to be a preferential buyer (whatever that means) for gas from the second stage of the immense Shan Deniz field.

The price in the deal is very interesting, given that Gazprom (OGZPY.PK) is balking at paying the same price from Turkmenistan (admittedly the Azeri gas is closer to market, and should receive something of a premium). Indeed, recent reports tend to confirm my initial conclusion that the gas pipeline “explosion” in Turkmenistan was just a consequence of the Russian reneging on its contract to buy gas at $345 from the Turkmen, a price that seemed like a good deal at the time, but which looks very rich given the current market

The inaugural EU Eastern Partnership summit took place May 7 in Prague during Topolánek's last days as prime minister. It marked formal steps toward increased EU ties with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The meeting was cited by several experts as a specific success of the presidency."The diplomats deserve some credit, even if the politicians failed," said Julia De Clerck-Sachsse at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

"They did manage to hold the summits."Drulák, listing successes during the presidency, said, "Of course, the Eastern Partnership" and noted the Southern Corridor summit that occurred the next day. The meeting targeted energy security and included representatives from Turkey, Egypt, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Turkmenistan, the key source of much of the energy potential discussed, conspicuously did not sign the summit's final declaration.

The new Criminal Procedure Code of Turkmenistan enforces the role of members of Bar, formulates the fundamental principles of the concept of "presumption of innocence", introduces the rules that expand the possibility of application of preventive measures that do not relate to detention, including the use of cash bail for those wishing to stay at large for the period of investigation.

Baku and Ashgabat are continuing consultations concerning their legal entitlements to parts of the Caspian Sea. The next round of bilateral negotiations between the Deputy Foreign Ministers of those two countries will be held on September 8-9 in Ashgabat.

The visit comes in the aftermath of the deal signed between Russia and Azerbaijan, whereby the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom will buy 500 million cubic meters per year starting in 2010. The deal is perceived as a blow to the Nabucco project, the pipeline designed to carry Caspian natural gas to Europe via Turkey. The deal signed between Russia and Azerbaijan and the Nabucco project are two separate projects, Yıldız said.

It seems that Uranium One has raised the stakes. It entered into an agreement to purchase half of another uranium mine in Kazakhstan, which will increase the company’s production in 2010 by 35%. In exchange for this ownership stake, Uranium One will issue 117 million shares and US$90 million to JSC Atomredmetzoloto, a Russian state-owned uranium miner (another US$60 million payment is contingent on whether certain tax issues can be worked out).

The other 50% of the mine is owned by JSC Kazatomprom, the Kazakh state-owned uranium miner, who also holds stakes in Uranium One’s other mines. Our perception is that Kazakh officials were sincere in their announcement that they would not change the terms of any contracts and they have already blessed the transaction. The transaction could be the reopening of Kazakhstan to capital and the house cleaning will only take part within the government and not harm those companies operating there.

The consortium of international oil majors developing the Kashagan oil field in the Caspian Sea have decided to cut costs significantly, Kazakh state oil and gas company KazMunaiGas said Thursday.

"The global economic crisis has had a substantial impact on the global market, which will affect the [Kashagan] project participants' obligations," KazMunaiGas, or KMG, said in a statement.

"This decision is expected to significantly cut project expenditures for Kazakhstan and the Kashagan consortium members, while abiding by a development timeframe and deadline for the start of production at the [Kashagan] oil field."

Kazakhstan and the USA share opinion on the issue of nuclear disarmament. The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, stated today at the meeting in Akorda with the chairman of Subcommittee of Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the American Congress, Eni Faleomavaega, the "Kazakhstan Today" agency reports.

"We share common opinion on the issue of nuclear disarmament," N. Nazarbayev stated. "Kazakhstan is grateful to you for the support to our country and our policy. You have done much for strengthening of the Kazakhstan-American relations. Your initiatives are directed at strengthening of this friendship and trust," E. Faleomavaega said.

The American congressman expressed support to the Kazakhstan initiatives in the issue of nuclear disarmament. "We continue to give you due for the work done by you to make the leaders of the states understand how important it is to continue the work on nuclear disarmament," he said, addressing N. Nazarbayev.

After the meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, E. Faleomavaega at the briefing for journalists said that during the meeting they discussed the forthcoming visit of the American President, Barack Obama, to Russia, and other questions of improvement of the geopolitical situation influencing situation in the world.

Following the visit of President Shimon Peres to Kazakhastan and a personal request he made to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry announced a series of humanitarian measures it will take regarding Israeli Boris Sheinkman, held in Kazakhstan for several months.

Sheinkman will also be taken out of legal "limbo," the ministry said, according to a statement released by the office of President Peres. The measures were confirmed by the Kazakh deputy foreign minister in a meeting with the Israeli ambassador in the country. Sheinkman will now be able to meet with his daughter Lee Sheinkman, hold phone conversations with his family in Israel and people visiting him will be able to spend more time in his company than previously. His daughter has been lobbying to improve his condition for the past few days, since Peres arrived in the country.

In May 2009, representatives of the Turkmen government and Siemens agreed to drive the expansion of Turkmenistan’s infrastructure with the help of Siemens technology.The state intends to use Siemens technologies from all three of the company’s Sectors – Energy, Industry and Healthcare. In a first step, Siemens’ Healthcare Sector will supply medical devices for the hearing-impaired and establish specialised audiology centres in Turkmenistan. Siemens also intends to support the country in training highly qualified specialists and in expanding local infrastructure expertise.At their meeting in February 2009, Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymu­kham­medov laid the basis for inte­nsifying cooperation bet­ween the Central Asian country and Siemens. Since then, several initial projects have already been launched.

SNIP

Seven former Siemens executives are targeted in Greek prosecutors’ investigation of a 1990s contract that Siemens won with Greece’s dominant telecom operator, OTE, which was state-owned at the time. According to the charges in that case, former Siemens officials paid some 57 million Euro in kickbacks to secure the deal with OTE. Three of the suspects in the case have been jailed in Greece pending trial.

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, said it’s unaware of an alleged call by the party’s youth league for the government to nationalize the country’s mining and manufacturing industries.

“I am not aware of that request having been made,” ANC spokeswoman Jessie Duarte said by mobile phone today. “This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

The Sowetan newspaper today reported that ANC Youth League President Julius Malema had urged President Jacob Zuma’s government to take control of the country’s mines and factories because of the “confusion” caused by the global financial crisis. The time has come for the government to transfer South Africa’s wealth to “the people as a whole,” the Johannesburg- based newspaper cited Malema as saying.

ANC Youth League spokesman Floyd Shivambu didn’t immediately respond to messages left on his mobile phone when Bloomberg News called seeking comment.

The board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is packed with powerful executives. But the selection process leading up to January's promotion of William Dudley to president underscored the lack of clout among the Fed's regional directors as the central bank navigated the crisis.

Mr. Dudley, a 56-year-old former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economist who ran the New York Fed's markets division, got the top job after a two-month search, succeeding new Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Behind the scenes, the hiring process triggered concerns with some New York Fed directors, including General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeff Immelt and PepsiCo Inc. CEO Indra Nooyi, according to people familiar with the situation. One reason: Mr. Geithner took an active role in recommending his successor, lobbying hard for Mr. Dudley and against other candidates, attendees said.

CNBC Reports that the TARP’s Public Private Investment Partnership’s (PPIP) asset managers are going to be announced on any day now. It will be a smaller affair with only $50 billion of assets to be bought not the $500 billion to $1 trillion originally planned.

The FDIC had largely abandoned the program after it unsuccessfully floated the really bad idea of banks buying their own assets. Further, smaller banks were rightly fearful that the FDIC's loan guarantees in the PPIP would raise deposit insurance premiums to help the mega banks. Thus, it is the Treasury alone that will be making the loans and putting up the equity alongside private investors that include Wilber Ross and Company.

"There are now 14.7 million people unemployed. Since the start of the recession, the unemployment rate has risen 4.6 percentage points. If you account for those who have given up looking for a job but want to work or those working only part-time but want full time employment, the unemployment rate rises to 16.5%." - The ABC News Business Unit, assessing the dismal numbers in this morning's Jobs Report

“The fact of the matter is that the unemployment rate is much worse than the administration contemplated or that most people expected,” Economist Paul Krugman, to ABC’s Jennifer Parker

So what is going on? How can these behemoth institutional players treat the crude oil market like their very own ponzi scheme? Last year the effects on the world economy were devastating. Wealthy economies stalled into a recession and poor economies were thrown into chaos as staple food prices soared. Isn’t there a regulation to prevent the manipulative “walking up” of prices in commodities? Yes, yes there is. Or more accurately there was.

YES, we WON. Lord Blankfein and his Band of Merry Thugs blinked blinked, and we sliced their heads off. Here is a link to the Stipulation Goldman Sachs recently signed in response to my Complaint against Goldman Sachs, after they sent me one of their bully-bully threatening letters. True knuckheads that think they can bully anyone. Well . . . they bullied Bush, and they're bullying Obama and his Gang of Goofballs, but I hate the bad guys . . . and I never back down.

Click Here to view the Stipulation document filed in the United States District Court. Basically, Goldman Sachs put their slimy tail between their legs and slinked off to the stench and rot of their den of deceit, debauchery and licentousness.

Most of you know I had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery at the end of May. I am six weeks out of surgery, and I have been back to work since week two! But certainly not at the level I was prior to the surgery. In fact, I have had to eliminate work on non-client related matters like this website.

What's Next? I can never return to the level of work I was doing prior to my bypass surgery. It is physically impossible, and I want to retain some form of life for myself and my friends. So I am going to offer to turn over this website to a person or group of people that are interested in managing it. We have received emails from hundreds of potential volunteers, but what is truly needed is one or more people that want to manage the site and the volunteers.

If we don't find a person or group to manage the site, I will do what I can to put together an internal team, but it is not a priority so it might be a few months.

Reuters has the blow by blow of the recent news that the CEO of a bank in the game EVE Online stole $5100 from his depositors in order to pay some real world debts.

The Divine Economy: On the New Papal EncylicalI warned you all Popella would write something using the euphemism MORAL CAPITALISM or something very close to that term. Moral Capitalism is currently being utilized worldwide by the Glow Ballists as a euphemism for SHARIA BANKING.

ESRI, the leader in geographic information system (GIS) technology, was selected as one of two finalists for Microsoft's Public Sector, Government Partner of the Year award. The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) Award recognizes partners that have developed and delivered exceptional Microsoft-based solutions. This new award honors partners that have delivered innovative solutions that address the unique needs of the public sector.

Microsoft and ESRI, a Gold Certified Partner, collaborated to develop a compelling joint offering directed at the growing data fusion center market. The Fusion Core Solution technology architecture incorporates ESRI's sophisticated ArcGIS technology and delivers a standards-based solution tailored to state and local intelligence and fusion center missions and practices and is interoperable with existing technology infrastructures. The Fusion Core Solution technology enables the fusion center team to immediately assess and model emergency situations on a dynamic electronic map. This reduces cycle times and offers decision makers much higher quality and actionable information.

CACI International Inc., an information-technology company that does a significant amount of business with the Defense Department, said Wednesday it named former Virginia governor James Gilmore and retired U.S. Gen. William Scott Wallace to its board of directors.Gilmore served as Virginia's governor from 1998 to 2002 and also has a military intelligence background. Wallace retired last year after 39 years in the Army.

In the video below Chip Reid of CBS and Helen Thomas go after Robert Gibbs for the White House carefully managing and controlling the "public questions" asked of Obama. Without his teleprompter President Hussein can't string five words together. The more persistent Reid and Thomas become, the more Gibbs giggles and evades.

Thomas: "The point is the control from here. We have never had that in the White House. And we have had some control but not this control. I mean I'm amazed, I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and have controlled..."

The Obama administration is set to revive a Bush-era program to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, FOX News has confirmed.

The program will review only data going to or from government systems, Department of Homeland Security officials told the Washington Post, which first reported the story.According to the newspaper, the program has sparked controversy within the Department of Homeland Security because of uncertainty over whether private data can shielded from unauthorized scrutiny, how much of a role NSA should play and whether the agency's involvement in warrantless wiretapping under the Bush administration would draw criticism.

"We absolutely intend to use the technical resources, the substantial ones, that NSA has," the department's secretary, Janet Napolitano, told reporters in a discussion of cybersecurity efforts. "But...they will be guided, led, and in a sense directed by the people we have at the Department of Homeland Security."

The magic number in the Obama White House appears to be 172,000. Dollars, that is. Per year. Twenty-two of the president's top aides -- most with the title "assistant to the president" -- make exactly that much in exchange for their service to the country, the White House reported to Congress today. The Obama administration also published the information on the White House blog. Those making the magic number include 28-year-old Jonathan Favreau, the president's wordsmith (director of speechwriting), and 66-year-old James L. Jones, the national security adviser.

The Continuity of Government Commission is a private AEI-Brookings commission funded by the Carnegie, Hewlett, Packard, and MacArthur Foundations. It is comprised of members with experience in various branches of government and expertise in the daily functioning of our government. It was founded in the fall of 2002 to consider how each of our three branches of government might reconstitute themselves after a catastrophic attack on Washington, D.C. and to make recommendations for statutory and constitutional changes that would improve the continuity of our basic institutions.

In June of 2003, the commission issued its first report on the Continuity of Congress.1 In that report the commission unanimously recommended a constitutional amendment that would provide for filling mass vacancies or mass incapacitations in the U.S. House and Senate through temporary appointments until special elections could be held to fill the vacancies.

Without such an amendment, an attack might cause Congress to fall below the quorum requirement for conducting business and potentially disable Congress for many months until the numerous vacancies could be filled. The report spawned much debate in Congress, including many hearings and the introduction of a variety of amendments to address this problem.

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post has offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record, nonconfrontational access to "those powerful few": Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and — at first — even the paper’s own reporters and editors.

The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its “health care reporting and editorial staff."

In a split decision released Wednesday, July 1, the Ohio Supreme Court said the parents of a Cincinnati teen who had an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic do not have the right to other minors’ medical records.

The parents of “Jane Roe,” who had an abortion in March 2004 as a 14-year-old, filed suit against Planned Parenthood, alleging the clinic didn’t properly get parental consent for the abortion or notify authorities of suspected sexual abuse of a minor. Although the clinic staff called a man who Jane said was her father and received consent, it turned out that it was her 21-year-old soccer coach, John Haller, on the other end. Later police found that Jane had been sexually abused and impregnated by Haller.

The lawsuit claimed Planned Parenthood’s handling of Jane’s case was part of a pattern involving minors who had obtained abortions.

At United Nations headquarters this week, the Obama administration continued its push for ever increasing access to legal abortion around the world. The Obama team has introduced language that has thrown a high level negotiation into a roil. The US proposal calls for “universal access” to “sexual and reproductive health services including universal access to family planning.” The document under consideration will culminate in the 2009 Annual Ministerial Review, which convenes next week in Geneva.

Sitting in a Durham County jail cell, Frank M. Lombard, the Duke University researcher accused of offering his adopted 5-year-old son for sex, awaits a trip to Washington, D.C., this week to face federal criminal charges. After waiving an extradition hearing Friday morning, he was locked in the Durham jail Saturday without bail.

Federal authorities say Lombard, 42, of 24 Indigo Creek Trail, performed sexual acts on his son and invited an undercover investigator online to fly to North Carolina and do the same. Lombard owns the home with another man, according to Durham County property records. The pair bought the home, which sits at the end of a narrow path lined with trees and multicolored homes, in May 2007, the records show. The co-owner has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The chief judge of the federal appeals court in San Francisco was rebuked but not formally disciplined by a judicial panel Thursday for posting sexually explicit material on his private Web site and failing to remove it when he learned it was publicly accessible.

Senator Charles Grassley (R–IA) has cast a wide net in search of physicians who failed to fully disclose payments they received from drug and device companies. One of his concerns, he said, is that biased research could be influencing treatment decisions. About 30 universities have now received queries from Grassley. Science has compiled a table of cases made public by Grassley involving NIH-funded researchers—all psychiatrists, many of whom allegedly received consulting income from companies whose drugs they were studying.

The North Dakota Department of Human Services has agreed to accept a $240,199 settlement with Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. The settlement is part of a $95.5 million agreement the drug manufacturer reached with the National Association of Medicaid Fraud Control Units. The settlement resolves allegations that the company knowingly misreported best prices for anti-inflammatory nasal sprays Azmacort, Nasacort, and Nasacort AQ.

The Flying Camel

Arebel's Diary

BabbaZed Vinyl Cultessa 2012

BabbaZee Repenthouse Pet 1982

Should GOD reward you on your terms then, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I... So, tell me what you know... ~ Job 34:33

"You surrender in your own name. Leave me out of it. "

Obey & Endure

No matter how many times I explain to people that I understand that they feel lost and helpless and betrayed by their leaders in the face of the Jihad, that I understand deeply that these are the only people that you perceive to be "standing up to jihad" - no matter how much irrefutable information I give you that many of these so called anti jihadists are just as bad as the jihad itself - You will turn the blind eye out of expedience, out of fear, out of laziness, out of shallowness of moral character, out of stupidity, out of tribal affiliation, out of complacency, out of ignorance, out of vanity, out of hatred.... take your pick. In any event you will chose to stay blind. Let those who have eyes, see:

This Notta Blahhhg Has Been Approved By The Elderbunny Of Zion

TO DONATE VIA PAYPAL CLICK THE ICON BELOW:

If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

~ Leviticus 20:13

Next time someone tries to shove some Homo Stultus dogma down your throat it would please me very much if you would use the following links to express your disinterest in their Darwingelical Dawkins Da'Wa....